Original research shows critical importance of alternative payment methods for monetizing free-to-play games, accounting for 37% of revenues

San Francisco, CA (Game Developers Conference 2013) – GlobalCollect, the world’s premier payment service provider, today announced the publication of its report “The Shifting Video Games Landscape: Payments, Intelligence and Trends.” The original research is based on GlobalCollect’s extensive gaming transaction data as well as data from international gaming market research firm Newzoo. GlobalCollect is widely acknowledged as the recognized leader for payment services in the video gaming industry, giving it a wealth of historical data on which to base the analysis conducted in the report.

The report highlights the dramatic changes currently taking place in the gaming industry, ultimately driven by consumers. The free-to-play business model, uptake of mobile screens and continued strong growth in emerging markets have pushed up the number of (paying) players and time spent. Money follows these early growth indicators, illustrated by the healthy global growth rate of 7%.

Alternative payment methods account for 32.3% of all European gaming payments. Without offering a range of these methods, merchants will not maximize revenues.

The emergence of midcore gaming (games that are in between what we traditionally call ‘casual’ and ‘core’ games) is evident, with transactions growing by 7% between Q1 and Q4 of 2012. This growth was at the expense of hard-core gaming transactions, with the share of transactions falling by 6%.

“Presenting accurate and visually appealing data allows gaming merchants to clearly identify trends and outliers in their own payments performance and ultimately take action on the insights provided to increase revenues,” said Nathan Salisbury, GlobalCollect’s global market director for Video Gaming. “Our objective is to help elevate our clients’ payment operations into a strategic asset for their companies, and this research is just a small example of how GlobalCollect can help gaming companies ‘level up’ their payments strategy.”

Peter Warman, CEO of Newzoo: “The research clearly shows that payment method cultures are divided by national borders. In certain countries, alternative payment methods can make up as much as 80% of the sales volumes. Developing a deep understanding of these differences and crafting a payment strategy around them is critical to the success of international gaming companies, and our co-operation with GlobalCollect is aimed at providing exactly this.”

GlobalCollect processed more than US$14 billion in transactions for international e-commerce companies in 2012, representing some of the world’s most recognized tier-1 brands. The company’s video gaming-related revenue rose by more than 40% in 2012.

The joint solution pairs Vindicia’s CashBox - a marketing, CRM and billing platform - with GlobalCollect’s global online payment service, which currently processes more than $14 billion per year in online transactions for more than 500 tier-1 e-commerce companies around the world. The combined offering will give companies who sell digital music, video, software, publications and other online goods and services the ability to quickly and easily acquire and grow their customer base and cement customer loyalty.

CashBox is a SaaS billing solution with integrated marketing best practices to optimize customer retention, enhance acquisition rates and minimize operational overhead. With CashBox, businesses selling digital content and services can take control of their business with detailed analytics and best practices to grow revenue. CashBox enhances customer acquisition and increases customer retention by 10 to 15%, while providing 99.99% reliability on a massive scale.

GlobalCollect’s payment services platform offers digital merchants the ability to instantly acquire international customers in more than 170 countries and lets them pay with more than 150 different payment methods and 170 currencies, all with a single technical interface and one commercial contract. In addition, GlobalCollect’s Professional Services and Business Intelligence offerings help customers elevate their payments strategies by quickly spotting issues and opportunities so they can take quick action to optimize their payment flows and improve their conversion and success rates.

“The end-to-end billing and payments solution from Vindicia and GlobalCollect gives digital media distributors the ability to quickly and effortlessly create, extend and maintain their reach into multiple territories so they can effectively grow their businesses,” said Gene Hoffman, chief executive officer, Vindicia. “Pairing subscription CRM and billing with a nearly limitless ability to process payments will be a key strategic asset to any major digital business.”

“As digital business expand beyond their home markets and begin to reach out to potential clients across borders, our joint solution can ensure that they can do so quickly and cost-effectively,” said Sytze Koolen, director of global alliances, GlobalCollect. “With nearly 30 years of combined experience in billing and payments and some of the world’s leading e-commerce clients, the Vindicia-GlobalCollect partnership is a winning combination for any company wanting to drive higher digital media revenues.”

Note: Vindicia CEO Gene Hoffman will speak on a panel on “The Data Driven Future of Media” at the FT Digital Media Conference taking place at the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel on April 25th at 14.20.

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About GlobalCollect GlobalCollect is the world's premier Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for international Customer Not-Present (CNP) channels such as internet, mail and telephone orders, and specializes in a wide range of industries such as travel, ticketing, telecommunications, retail, publishing, portals, online gaming, and digital content. While most providers limit their services to a technical link with payment acquirers, GlobalCollect is a full service partner consulting clients on how to increase transaction volumes, expand distribution channels, and reduce costs by streamlining back office processes.

Through a single-interface online payment platform, we offer access to an unrivaled portfolio of local and international payment methods in over 170 countries and 170 currencies, including all major credit and debit cards, direct debits, bank transfers, real-time bank transfers, eWallets, cash at outlets, prepaid methods, checks, and invoices. For more information please visit: www.globalcollect.com and follow us on:

San Francisco, CA (Game Developers Conference 2013) – GlobalCollect, the world’s premier payment service provider, today announced the publication of its report “The Shifting Video Games Landscape: Payments, Intelligence and Trends.” The original research is based on GlobalCollect’s extensive gaming transaction data as well as data from international gaming market research firm Newzoo. GlobalCollect is widely acknowledged as the recognized leader for payment services in the video gaming industry, giving it a wealth of historical data on which to base the analysis conducted in the report.

The report highlights the dramatic changes currently taking place in the gaming industry, ultimately driven by consumers. The free-to-play business model, uptake of mobile screens and continued strong growth in emerging markets have pushed up the number of (paying) players and time spent. Money follows these early growth indicators, illustrated by the healthy global growth rate of 7%.

2.Alternative payment methods account for 32.3% of all European gaming payments. Without offering a range of these methods, merchants will not maximize revenues.

3.The emergence of midcore gaming (games that are in between what we traditionally call ‘casual’ and ‘core’ games) is evident, with transactions growing by 7% between Q1 and Q4 of 2012. This growth was at the expense of hard-core gaming transactions, with the share of transactions falling by 6%.

“Presenting accurate and visually appealing data allows gaming merchants to clearly identify trends and outliers in their own payments performance and ultimately take action on the insights provided to increase revenues,” said Nathan Salisbury, GlobalCollect’s global market director for Video Gaming. “Our objective is to help elevate our clients’ payment operations into a strategic asset for their companies, and this research is just a small example of how GlobalCollect can help gaming companies ‘level up’ their payments strategy.”

Peter Warman, CEO of Newzoo: “The research clearly shows that payment method cultures are divided by national borders. In certain countries, alternative payment methods can make up as much as 80% of the sales volumes. Developing a deep understanding of these differences and crafting a payment strategy around them is critical to the success of international gaming companies, and our co-operation with GlobalCollect is aimed at providing exactly this.”

GlobalCollect processed more than US$14 billion in transactions for international e-commerce companies in 2012, representing some of the world’s most recognized tier-1 brands. The company’s video gaming-related revenue rose by more than 40% in 2012.